


Neophyte

by Musicofthesoprano



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Lavender has a crush on Draco, Messed up Shacklebolt, Ministry Experiment, Other, Redeemed Draco, Sixth year AU, Slow Burn, binding, dramione - Freeform, happy endings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2019-10-14 01:50:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17499302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Musicofthesoprano/pseuds/Musicofthesoprano
Summary: The Ministry of Magic has decided to do a study on Hogwarts students. But it’s no ordinary study. They have handpicked students they feel have potential. And Hermione Granger has found herself intertwined with the Slytherin prince, Draco Malfoy.Will Hermione and Draco continue to hate each other, or will their views seemingly change over the course of the experiment?





	1. Chocolate Frog Cards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta’d by my wonderful Beta, zselenophile, aka Zara. Thanks so much for all you do!

The Hogwarts Express whined as Hermione and her parents settled next to the train. She had tried to spend much more time with them, because she knew she wouldn't be able to if Voldemort was rising once again.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Mr Granger asked Hermione. She nodded.

"Of course, Dad, I'll be fine." Hermione responded.

"Make sure to send one of your owl friends to us when you get to Hogwarts, just to make sure we won't worry." Mrs Granger suggested.

"Oh, of course." A smile grew upon the young witches cheeks. Before Hermione departed to the train, she hugged both of them. They then said their goodbyes and Hermione got on the train.

She looked in every compartment trying to find Ron and Harry, before she stumbled upon them, eating some chocolate frogs and comparing their cards.

"Kingsley Shacklebolt.. I've got about four of these already." Ron frowned, looking to Harry.

"Ah.. I got Circe. Pretty sure I already have her, this may be my second one." Harry remarked, putting it in a pile next to him. Hermione shook her head before sitting next to the scarred wizard.

"Hey, Hermione... take one." Ron smiled, handing her a chocolate frog case.

"We have about... five more boxes of them" Harry said as he grabbed a box. Hermione opened her chocolate frog box, grabbing the frog before it jumped out of reach. She ate it first and then looked at the card. The current minister, _Kingsley Shacklebolt_.

She had knew him from the Order. Of course, there were rumors that he was going practically insane trying to figure out how to defeat Voldemort.

" _Shacklebolt._ " She responded, shifting the card. Ron and Harry scoffed.

"Another Shacklebolt card!" Ron cried as the train started. Harry laughed, showing his Queen Maeve card.

"So... Harry, have you had any issues with your scar?" Hermione asked. She knew she would have to break the ice at one point, because they were gonna start talking about Voldemort either way.

"Uh.. actually, I have. During the summer, I got this horrible migraine. It started at the scar." Harry responded, touching his head.

"You know, you should've told Dumbledore." Hermione exclaimed, her brows furrowing. 

"Mione, you know, he was at my house. My parents are apart of the Order.. I thought you knew that." Ron said, leaning towards her.

The rest of the way to Hogwarts was filled with laughter, as Ron and Harry told Hermione of how Fred and George pranked Ginny at her birthday party. They had put some swelling serum in a cake the twins had "specially" formulated for her.

Ginny didn't seem too happy about it, once she took a bite out of the cake. Mrs. Weasley was on them for two months straight about the whole ordeal, and practically exterminated their whole operation.

Hermioneit's eyes followed the familiar hills go by. Soon enough, she was grabbing her luggage to depart to the thestral carriages. Harry and Ron were still going on about the chocolate frog cards, and how they kept getting Mopsus. By the time they got their robes on and got to the Great Hall, all three of them had gotten these strange letters folded in shiny paper.

A sigh escaped her mouth after she pulled out the folded parchment and scanned through the letter, reading the delicate calligraphy. It read...

 

**_"Dear Miss Granger,_ **

 

**_Congratulations on getting chosen to be in a Ministry of Magic experiment._ **

**_You and five others will meet Professor Dumbledore after Sorting in his office._ **

_**I expect greatness out from all of you, especially you, Miss Granger.** _

_**You are truly a force that can't be reckoned with.** _

**_Thank you for reading this. The program will last for all of your sixth year._ **

 

**_The MINISTER OF MAGIC,_ **

**_Kingsley Shacklebolt."_ **

 

She read the letter almost five times before sighing and looking to Harry.

"All of our sixth year?! Are they crazy?! Kinglsey's first term as Minister and he's doing this!" Hermione groaned before sitting down in the Great Hall with Harry and Ron. Ron's eyebrows furrowed as Ginny grabbed the letter, reading it aloud.

 

**_"Dear Mr. Weasley,_ **

 

**_Congratulations on getting chosen to be in a Ministry of Magic experiment._ **

**_You and five others will meet Professor Dumbledore after Sorting in his office._ **

**_I expect you and your partner to get along._ **

**_Thank you for reading this. The program will last for all of your sixth year._ **

 

**_The MINISTER OF MAGIC,_ **

**_Kingsley Shacklebolt."_ **

 

Hermione scoffed. Harry shook his head, and Neville's eyebrow’s rose.

"An.. an experiment? What.. what, they can't do this!" Neville started to argue.

"I guess they can. Mum and Dad did say there was something wrong with Kingsley," Ginny frowned, leaning into the four, "They said they don't like him as Minister. They also said... he's not himself. He's become cruel."

                                                                                             

Hours later, it was time to meet Professor Dumbledore in his office. The trio walked to Dumbledore's office, not knowing that they would be the only ones there. Hermione was astonished by all of the books that Dumbledore had occupied, while Harry was playing with Fawkes. The three were too occupied to see who had opened the door.

”Oh, well look what we have here, ” Draco smirked, giving the trio an intense glare. ”King Weasley, Knight Potty, and the Gryffindor Princess.” Hermione stopped dead in her tracks. Malfoy was also in this experiment? 

He would likely be the death of her. 

”Oh, suck it Malfoy.” Hermione rolled her eyes, her grip on a book tightening. She looked over to Ron and Harry, who didn’t seem to care about the presence of Malfoy.

”You know, the only reason Shacklebolt has you here, Granger, is because you’re a wanna-be Pureblood. Might as well be a Squib, Mudblood.” Malfoy spat. He seemed to be proud of himself like he was living up to something. Ron looked over to Malfoy when he spoke the foul word. Hermione could just see the blood boiling inside of Ron. 

”Malfoy, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?” Ron asked, a smirk starting to spread on his face. Hermione chuckled, and Harry seemed to cover his mouth to stop himself from laughing. 

Draco’s face scrunched up and he seemed to frown. 

Before anything else could happen, Dumbledore appeared behind Malfoy with Cho Chang and Lavender Brown. Harry, Ron and Hermione went silent and looked at each other, while Draco frowned while he was eating an apple, his focus on Dumbledore. Cho and Lavender sighed.

Dumbledore motioned for all of them to sit in six empty chairs near his desk, which all magically appeared.

 "Good evening, students. It has came to my attention that the six of you were chosen for an experiment at Hogwarts. Now, while I don't condone these magical experiments done by the Ministry, I assume it is only for good reasons. Do any of you have any questions?" The bearded wizard looked around, alert for any curiosity. Hermione’s hand shot up.

"Yes, Miss. Granger?"

"Sir, will this really be taking up our school year?" She spoke. Dumbledore frowned.

"I'm afraid so. This program takes up the whole year, including some of your summer holidays." His words made Hermione's jaw drop. It was infuriating. She would have to read all of her books as the semester went on and not have any guidance from a teacher when she had questions.

"Professor, the letter mentioned something about partners... who are our partners?" Harry responded.

"Hm... Ah, I remember now. Thank you for asking that question, Harry. You are partnered with Cho. Ron, you are paired up with Lavender, and Hermione is partnered up with Draco. All six of you were hand picked by the Ministry." No one spoke. Hermione's heart started to beat rapidly.. _partners with Draco?_

"WHAT?" Ron squeaked, breaking the silence. 

Hermione started to think of all of the times Malfoy had been cruel to her. All of the times he called her a mudblood. The time she punched him in the face for messing with her friends.

She was determined to make him upright miserable like all of the times he made her feel. 

 "This was none of my doing. But, I will work with the Ministry to ensure you're all safe in this experiment; Whatever this experiment is. Here's what I do know, though. You will be training for a few months for this experiment. There are no breaks in between, but you will all be getting Christmas and birthday presents from the Ministry, which is a nice thing to add. If anything comes up that interrupts training or the experiment, they will pull you out, but will find a way to fill you back in,” Dumbledore spoke, “But, be careful; If this experiment is rough enough to where they have it for a whole school year, I will remind you all to be safe." A frown stared to form on the headmasters face. They all looked down and nodded.

"Now, I would like to show you your special dorms," Dumbledore sat up, motioning to follow him."If you'd follow me, please." The six stood up and started silently following the bearded wizard.

After what seemed like years of silence and walking, they arrived to the "Neophyte" common room. It wasn't much different than the Gryffindor common room, but looked elegant and polished, and sprinkled with the colors of the four Hogwarts houses. It felt homey with a modern touch.

Books sat neatly on the shelves in alphabetical order, along with certain potion ingredients and vials of labeled potions sat on the next two shelves. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, making the jewels hanging from the light reflect onto the walls.

Much like the Gryffindor common room, it held a fire place. The flames sparked a light yellow. 

There also seemed to be grand windows with plants potted in the windowsill, some plants spikey and some hanging. It overall, it had a fresh feeling to it. 

Dumbledore left the six to explore the new common room. Hermione went looking around to find the girls dorms, but Lavender beat her to it.

"So... you got Ron?" Hermione asked, holding her elbows. She didn't make eye contact with Lavender.

"Yes.. I did.. I'm quite happy about it. I.. I think I like him. He's quite cute, isn't he?" Lavender smiled, her cheeks rosey. "And you got Malfoy. He's cute too, isn't he?"

"Oh... Malfoy? He... he's an arrogant fool, that's what he is." Hermione shook her head, bringing her luggage to a bed. Moments later, Cho came in.

"Hey, Cho..." Lavender smiled.

"Hey, Lavender.." Cho responded.

"You alright?" Lavender asked.

"I... I don't know. I guess it's all coming back to me.. this experiment is dangerous. I'm really afraid one of us will end up like Cedric.." Cho sighed, dropping her luggage on the bed near Lavender.

"Cho... I'm sure it'll be alright. Those were the triwizard games.. this is an experiment by the Ministry. I'm sure we will be fine." Lavender tried to suggest.

"It won't be fine if I'm stuck for months with Malfoy." Hermione remarked, sticking her face in a book. It was the beginning of the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I've been giving the story some much-needed editing. This will continue for the few remaining chapters until I feel it is 100% to my liking and also to my beta’s liking. Thanks so much for reading and showing me your support!


	2. Gryffindork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The six are still settling into their dorms, and it's a hard time for everyone.

DRACO’S POV.

Draco watched the grandfather clock tick. He thought he had maybe been watching for an hour; Potter and Weasel were most likely not in the dorm at all, probably exploring like usual Gryffindors do. But Draco sat there. Waiting for a notion for him to move or get up. Wondering why in the world the Ministry picked Hermione Granger, out of all people, to be his partner for such a dangerous experiment. He wouldn’t let her get inside of him and try to befriend him.

No. That wasn’t him. But, instead, he would follow his gut, like some sort of dafty Gryffindor. God, he despised every single one of them. But, he couldn’t despise them forever. Not all Malfoys had been Slytherins. No, that couldn’t be possible.

 A knock on the door grabbed his attention. He got up, and twisted the knob to find Dumbledore himself to his service.

“Good evening, Mr. Malfoy. Dinner is served in the Great Hall.” The bearded wizard nodded before walking away. Draco sighed and rolled his eyes. He had never really liked Dumbledore. Always would choose Potter over him. He put on his new robes that the Ministry had provided him. It was a long black robe, with a gold shiny pendant with “Draco Malfoy” elegantly carved

 He departed from his room down to the Great Hall to eat dinner. He could already smell the food from the staircase before the Great Hall. He spotted a small group of people filling their plates with food on one table in the middle of the hall. 

He watched Cho and Lavender as they fixed their plates and sat down next to one another. 

“Hey, Draco.” Lavender smiled. Cho looked up for a brief moment before looking back down. She seemed to be significantly heartbroken after the Triwizard games, and never seemed to be the same she used to be. 

But when did he pay attention to a Ravenclaw?

He found it to be exceptionally strange that she started to fancy the winner of the game, sir Harry Potter in all of his glory. 

Lavender was just plain annoying. He never liked her, and he didn’t think he ever would. 

Same thing with the Mudblood. Even thinking of her made him scrunch up his face and feel like he was in pain. She did look beautiful at the Yule Ball, that was no doubt. 

Cho and Lavender chattered away, trying to include Draco in their conversation. They talked about everything from the latest model of broomstick to the stupid Ministry experiment they were presented with. 

Soon enough, Hermione, Ron and Harry burst through the door. Draco, Cho and Lavender went silent as they rearranged themselves. It didn’t take long for Draco to finish his food and leave in the middle of dinner.

After dinner, he found himself in the library with Pansy and Blaise.

“Nice robes, Draco.” Pansy smirked. They were dull, cheap robes that Draco would never settle for. Looking up from a dusty book Draco frowned.

“Oh, settle it Pansy.” He scoffed. Blaise chuckled.

“So, did you get anymore information about this whole experiment?” Blaise asked, looking up from a book.

 “All I know is that it’s gonna last for the whole sixth year, and my partner is Granger, and training will last a few months. They’ve told us nothing about what we’re going to do.” Draco shrugged, still looking in a book. There was a grunt heard from two sections over, and moments later Pansy came back with a different book.

“There has to be something about this somewhere. The Ministry can’t just allow something like this to happen for the first time… it’s all so evenly planned out, this can’t be just some experiment. It has to be for something else. Why would the Ministry want to see how well Hogwarts students work together? It has to be something else, but it’s something I can’t put my finger on.” Pansy sighed, slamming down a pile of books.

 Suddenly, a dark and familiar figure appeared. Professor Snape. He seemed to be angered. Of course, maybe he was in an unpleasant mood because his natural expression was unpleasant.

 “Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Zabini, Miss. Parkinson, go back to your dorms. Now. You are not to be questioning the Ministry and their doings. Go back to your dorms before I drag you all by the ears.” The Professor said with a prominent frown.

The Slytherin trio all rolled their eyes or sighed before they went to put their books away. Snape personally escorted Draco back to his dorm, lecturing him on why he shouldn’t be so foolish and should leave everything to the Ministry and not to his foolish friends.

Once Draco was back in his dorm, he found Harry and Ron tossing a ball to each other. Ron looked over to Draco with a frown. Harry sighed, watching his best friend.

“What are you looking at, Weasley?” The blond snapped.

“Oh shut it, Malfoy. If you hurt Hermione I will personally feed you to Cerberus. Don’t even try me.” Ron snarled, moving towards Draco. A laugh sprouted from the blond.

 “And why would I hurt the Mudblood? Give me a good reason.” Draco responded, a bite in his tone.

 “You stupid ferret, don’t call her a Mudblood! She’s Hermione Granger! She could kick your ass!” Ron whined, grabbing his wand. Draco chuckles, then swiftly pulled out his wand.

 “You really wanna duel right now, Weaselbee? You have no chance, dafty Gryffindork.” Malfoy frowned.

 “Expelliarmus!” Shouted Harry, causing the wand to be knocked out of Malfoy’s hand. Like a chicken getting chased by a rabid dog, Draco grabbed his wand and fled; finding himself in the common room of their dorms. No one was to be found in sight.

It wasn’t anything at all like the Slytherin common room; it held the colors of the different houses, but more of a modern touch with the occasional gleam. Books barricaded the shelves. Empty dorms had doors wide open, waiting for someone to open and explore them. And that’s just what Draco did.

 One dorm had a light on, and dusty cabinets were flung open as soon as he walked in. This place must’ve been where they housed one of the other wizard schools during the Triwizard tournaments, he thought. Potion bottles, broken wands and dusty books occupied the inside of the cabinets of the lonely dorm.

 A gleam in a small corner caught his eye. It was a silver necklace with opal and onyx. The necklace seemed quite intriguing, but there was no way this was left alone on purpose.

It looked like the eye of Merlin; maybe that’s what it was. An ancient artifact that held secret powers to the wearer. His fingers grazed the silver chain lightly. Before he could get a feel of the opal core, it threw him across the room.

He groaned, getting up and feeling his arm before whispering a curse.

 Another dorm even had unused potions that Draco smelled; they didn’t smell rather pleasant, but he suspected this is possibly where the Weasleys stored their pranking potions for awhile.

 A strange closet housed new robes, even though they had already gotten new ones from the Ministry. But these were sleek and sharp, featuring all of the Hogwarts colors. He assumed he could probably change the colors to green on all of them, just as a little prank.

“Colovaria!” Malfoy whispered as the flick of his wand turned all six of the robes to a nice Slytherin green. He smirked, and then strutted out like nothing happened. Before he retreated back to his dorm, he grabbed a book called “ **_History of The Ministry of Magic, Volume 1._ **”

Maybe this could tell him something about how the Ministry does things and why they do them.

After getting ready for bed, he slipped under the covers for a little light reading on his new book. Casting Lumos, he propped his wand like a flashlight on his hip and started reading.

The next thing he knew Professor Snape was up in his face.

“Mr. Malfoy, I see you’ve.. slept in. Get up, there’s no time to waste.” Snape shook his head before walking away. Draco rubbed his eyes before taking a deep breath. The night had gone away in the blink of an eye. He was utterly exhausted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! I really appreciate your kudos and comments.


	3. Riddikulus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! Thank you so much for reading Neophyte!!

HERMIONE'S POV

The early morning sun bubbled through the glass windows of Hogwarts. Potions brewed, magical creatures stirred and most of the professors were in a meeting or planning their lesson plans.

But, for the Neophytes, they were woken up early to get a head start for training. They gathered in the Great Hall to eat breakfast, gathering their food silently. While Hermione wondered how she could get the hell out of here and also wondered where Draco was, the rest of the group wondered why their robes were so close in color to the Slytherin robes.

 Suddenly, a blond Slytherin opened the door and grabbed a plate, despite being ten minutes late. Hermione rolled her eyes when he appeared. She found out that Ron tweaked with his alarm clock, and a professor had probably awoke him. She smirked. It was really what Malfoy deserved.

Meanwhile, Lavender was too busy fawning over Draco. She had developed a school girl crush over him the last few days, which confused Hermione after she told him that she liked Ron, and it appeared that Lavender was determined to make him hers throughout this experiment. And if anyone got in her way, she would find a way to eliminate them.

But it seemed like she had her chances, since Cho wasn’t really interested in Harry at the moment and Hermione seemed to be interested in Ron.

The six spread out and started eating. Cho, Draco and Lavender sat at the same table, while Ron, Hermione and Harry occupied another. The doors to the Great Hall opened, revealing Hagrid, a smile on his bearded face. He stepped to the Golden Trio’s table, grinning.

“Good ‘mornin Harry, Hermione, Ron. I’m gonn’a have to inform you that Minister Shacklebolt will meet with you afte’ breakfast and you’ll start training.” The giant man nodded before going over to the other table.

 “Mornin’ Draco, Lavender, Cho. Nice robes you got there,” he chuckled. “Minister Shacklebolt is gonn’a meet with ya afte’ breakfast today.” Hagrid informed the trio, then walked away to a corner. He pulled out a book and started reading.

 Ron looked to the other table to find Lavender flirting with Malfoy. Malfoy didn’t look to happy about the whole ordeal. He chuckled.

“Maybe it won’t be too bad, ‘Mione. We’ll just let Lavender shag Draco and then they won’t be on us constantly.” Ron shrugged.

 “Ronald, I don’t want to deal with this right now. Besides, I doubt it. Draco seems to pretty much hate every Gryffindor girl.” Hermione spoke. This experiment was absolute rubbish. She wished she could be back in school right now, talking to her friends and not doing a stupid experiment that won’t help her at all.

 “Hey, both of you, stop fighting for once. We don’t know what the hell this experiment is gonna be about, but all we know is that we have each other for it. Besides, why are you worrying about Malfoy so much? That git shouldn’t be bothering you!” Harry found himself stating. He was so tired of Ron and Hermione bickering constantly about Malfoy, and it needed to stop.

 After breakfast, the six went up to Dumbledore’s office to meet the Minister and find out what their assignments were. They each were assigned a chair to sit in and were required to take notes. After they settled in, the Minister, Kingsley Shacklebolt, strutted in with two guards behind him. He looked awfully smug about the whole ordeal. There was a certain gleam in his eye.

“Good evening Neophytes. Thank you for cooperating with us today and adjusting to this new schedule you’re being put to. The Ministry of Magic has been secretly having experiments on Hogwarts students for years. Well, experiments that the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, approves of. In this experiment, we will be testing how Hogwarts students handle dealing with peers they dislike, with very hard challenges that would greatly test both a Muggle and a Pure-blood. You will come out alive in this experiment, but you will come out with battle scars.” The Minister stated. He continued on.

“These challenges that will give you scars include putting a dragon to sleep, slaying dementors, taming a Thestral, and slaying a Hippocampus. Obviously, they will all be different levels of difficulties.. but we want to see how different Hogwarts students react to these kind of things under stressful situations. Any questions?” The Minister waited a few seconds, looking for hands. Cho raised hers.

“If there are experiments that The Ministry has been doing on Hogwarts students for years – then why aren’t there any books about it?” Cho asked. Kingsley chuckled.

“There are no books because after this whole experiment, you will be Obliviated. If anyone has written any sort of media, it will be stated false. Next?” The Minister stated. Everyone was silent.

“Well, I’ll tell you what we are doing today. Today we are binding jars of magical liquid to you so we can see your emotions. These jars crack if you’re wounded, and repair themselves like skin. You will also start basic training for these tasks. Follow me, if you will.” Kingsley motioned for them to follow him. It was as if they went down miles of stairs. They ended up going to the Room of Requirement, where the jars would be binded and the training would begin.

The training consisted of basic defense spells. They also learned how to make a couple potions, and read some history on magical creatures.

 “Now for the last part of today’s lesson – Boggarts. You will each face your worst fear and will learn how to defend yourself. Step in front of the closet one by one, and cast the spell – “Riddikulus!” And it will transform it into something you’re not scared of anymore. Mr. Malfoy, please step up to the closet.” The Minister stated. Hesitantly, Draco stepped up to the closet, waiting for his fate.

The closet door opened. It seemed that nothing was inside, that darkness consumed its insides. And out came something so despicable, so isolating, even the Minister was afraid of it.

 Lucius Malfoy stepped out of the closet, a pure carbon copy of him. Draco’s pale skin flushed. The Minister pat him on the shoulder with a stone cold face, motioning him to face his worst fear.

Draco managed to have the spell slip out. His father then had Harry’s scar and glasses, and a Gryffindor flag was draped around his shoulders. Draco laughed maniacally, like it was the best thing he’d ever seen in his life. The Minister pushed him away.

“Miss Chang, please step up.” Kingsley ordered. Cho did as he said. The boggart started transitioning into something even Harry flinched at. It was the body of Cedric laying on the ground, gasping for air. Tears started to stream down her face. She, too, whispered the spell. Cedric stood up, alive again. A smile then resided on her face.

“Hmm.. alright. Mr. Weasley, please come up.” Kingsley motioned to Ron. Ron anxiously ran up to the place where Cho once stood. The boggart transformed into Aragog, the spider Hagrid brought into the Forbidden Forest. Ron shuddered, grasping his wand.

“Come on, you dafty Gryffindor! It’s just a damn spider, make it do something!” Draco yelled, chuckling. Ron huffed and spewed out the spell. The spider turned a bright pastel pink, and it had a ridiculous wig on. The spider almost looked like Umbridge.

“Good. Mr. Potter, please step up.” Kingsley said once again. Harry stepper up. For a moment, the boggart didn’t transition. But then Lord Voldemort appeared. As soon as possible, Harry shouted “Riddikulus!” And Lord Voldemort was wearing one of those fake glasses that had a fake mustache and large plastic nose.

Harry chuckled.

“Miss Granger.” Kingsley said in a flat tone. Anxiously, Hermione stepped up. Waiting for it to turn, she held tightly onto her wand. It turned into Umbridge giving her a bad grade on her N.E.W.T test. Her face flushed to a pale white. She then accepted her fate – and shouted the spell bravely. Umbridge turned into Ron, flushed and embarrassed. The whole room burst out in laughter.

Everyone except for Ron.

"Miss Brown.” Kingsley plainly said, and Lavender stepped up. Ron turned into a snake. A big, huge Basilisk snake. Mumbling the spell, the huge snake withheld a tiara.

Kingsley said a spell which sent the boggart back into the closet. He turned to the six wizards and witches, a smile plastered on his face.

“This is exactly what I wanted. Now that we know know you all know how to defend yourselves against Boggarts, I order you to go back to your dorms and rest up for tomorrow’s training. Tomorrow we will fight against more Boggarts, brew advanced potions, and much more. Now, go rest up.” He nodded before leaving the room, leaving them to their own devices.

“Hermione, I can’t believe you turned Umbridge into me!” Ron frowned. Hermione scolded him.

“And I can’t believe you’re still afraid of spiders! Grow up! I’m sick of you acting like I can’t ever do anything right!” Hermione shouted before exiting the Room of Requirement, slamming the door. Before Ron could go and yell at Hermione, Harry grabbed him. 

She ran as far as she could, her breath starting to choke her up. 

Her throat became dry, her body started to shake.

And she kept running until she found a space to completely let it all out.

The stress and anger came out in the form of watery tears. 

It came out slowly, then all at once. 

A certain figure started to come into her vision. He had a familiar swagger walk that she was used to. His blond hair swayed, and his shoes were perfectly shined. It was Draco. 

“What is it, Granger? What’s your deal with Weaselbee?” He asked, his tone more harsh than he anticipated. Hermione shook her head.

“I don’t know why you would care...” She huffed, trying to keep her tears in. She didn’t want to look weak in front of Malfoy.

”Oh, come on Granger. I’ve been wanting an excuse to beat him up all year.” Draco spoke, a smug look on his face. Hermione’s eyebrows rose.

”No – no no... no, he’s just a git. Please, don’t beat him up. Even though he may deserve it... he doesn’t deserve it that much.” She responded. It took a lot for her to say no, especially since he did deserve it. Every time he doubted her, every time he insulted her.

Their relationship wasn’t healthy, and no matter how much she wanted to like him, she couldn’t.

Even Malfoy saw how unhealthy their relationship was.

She looked up to him. He offered her a hand with a plain expression. She took his hand, and he pulled her up.

“Why’d you do that?”

“Just to be polite... don’t get used to it, Granger.”  


	4. Pepper Up

The day before had mentally exhausted Hermione Granger. _Hermione Granger, the smart and brave Gryffindor who could never break down like that in front of Draco Malfoy; the arrogant Slytherin prince who was merely emotionless._ She would never get along with him, not in a million years! She vowed to herself to never let him in. To be just as cruel as he had been to her. She never imagined herself crying because of Ron. Ron had been the person she could go to and vent out her emotions and, strangely enough, he’d understand. He’d supported her. Through everything she did. But it looked like everything was turning around. Time was ticking, there wasn’t enough time for anything. Harry had became her new Ron. But she.. loved Ron.

She would never admit it, but Ronald Bilius Weasley was her safe place. But of course, she was going to be partnering with stupid, arrogant asshole, Draco Malfoy. He was everything that Ron wasn’t. Everything she didn’t want. Ron was kind, caring, warm and emotional. Draco was cold, arrogant, and emotionless. They were exact opposites. Ron was the sun, and Draco was the moon. She wanted to feel the warmth of the sun on her skin, not the moonlight.

 Waking up once again to face Draco was like waking up sore. She desperately wanted to make up with Ron. But Draco would prevent that. She would never make up with him, and with Ron being stubborn, it would just make it all worse.

Feeling the cold floor on her feet, she groaned before standing up. she retrieved to the bathroom and grabbed a hair brush. Brushing out the stubborn curls had to be the worst part. As she turned on the water in the bathtub, Hermione has a sudden realization of what time it was. It was about six o’clock in the morning, and they all had to be in the room of requirement by eight o’clock. She had hours. Stripping her clothing, she slowly slipped into the bath, taking in the warmth of the water. It was as if she was regenerating or something. After washing up, she started doing what she normally did.

She still had about an hour left, so she pulled out a book she had found in the library; “ _Memory Charms: Volume 1_ ” hoping it would help her understand the memory charm better, and reverse it. As soon as she knew it, it was almost eight o’clock.

 Joining her fellow Neophytes in the Room of Requirement, everyone seemed to be normal. But everything went silent when she came in. Sighing, she brought a book to the corner with her and waited for the Minister to arrive. It seemed like no one liked her anymore. Harry joined her in her little corner.

“What are you reading today?” He asked politely. Most likely trying to make up for what happened yesterday. Hermione closed her book. “Advanced Potions, volume ten.” Hermione said plainly.

“If you’re going to ask me to make up with Ronald, I’m not going to. He has to do it first. I’m tired of his stupid games.” She huffed. Harry sighed, his blue eyes shooting to the ground.

 “I’ve been trying to convince him all night. He isn’t listening to me. I hope after he’s obliviated that he will make up with you. I’m so tired of him acting like this, too. You’re not alone.” Harry said, agreeing with Hermione. Before Hermione could speak a word, the Minister came in. Everyone was suddenly up on their feet and was walking to towards the Minister.

The Minister seemed to be magnetic. It was an unusual amount of magnetic, not like power but he casted some sort of charm. Everyone had their attention on him like it was the end of the world mission.

“Good morning, Neophytes. You did very well yesterday – almost too well. We will review what we did yesterday, and we will also make some very advanced potions.” Pulling out his wand, Kingsley muttered a spell and the closet re-appeared.

New fears sprouted from yesterday’s Boggart session. In fact, Ron’s boggart seemed to be Kingsley now. Harry’s boggart was still Voldemort, but Cho’s boggart was still Cedric. Hermione’s boggart was the same as yesterday, Umbridge giving her a bad grade. Draco’s boggart was now Hermione. He obviously laughed it off, and when he cast the spell, she seemed to be wearing Hufflepuff robes. It seemed like that was another thing to hate him for.

Hermione wondered how their boggarts changed so quickly. She understood how Harry’s changed from last year, but maybe it was just thinking of something that you were afraid of. She would most certainly have to research about this after she was finished training.

Once they were all finished, Kingsley called them forth once again. He explained that they were going to create various advanced potions today, and that each would help them in their challenges. Today they would learn how to create two potions, Draught of Peace and the Pepperup Potion.

Professor Snape appeared like a phantom in the night. No one knew he was there, and it was as if he had walked in with the cloak of invisibility draped over him. His expression was the same as it had always been, nothing had changed. He motioned them to join him over at the three marble counters that had various cauldrons and vials on them.

“Good morning, N...mhm… students. Today you will be brewing your own potions but with your partners. You must memorize how to create these or else you’ll be in very big trouble. We will start with the Draught of Peace. Your ingredients are present in the room, you must find them. You may start now.” Snape said in his normal desperate to leave tone.

“Granger, you.. go find the ingredients. I’ll set everything up.” Draco insisted. Hermione’s eyebrow rose.

“Why don’t you come with me, Malfoy? We’re supposed to know what we need for these potions.” Hermione responded.

Draco shook his head. “Well, then I’ll tell you how to set everything up after you get back with the ingredients.” He spat. Hermione’s eyes went into the back of her head for a second before she went over and retrieved what she needed: _powdered moonstone, hellebore, powdered porcupine quills, and powdered unicorn horn._

After coming back with the ingredients, the two started to concoct the potion. They did exactly what the book said, memorizing it along the way. Hermione recited the concoction in her head almost ten times, trying to recite it by heart.

When the two were satisfied with their concoctions, they compared notes and found they each were equal. Snape came over and critiqued the potions, finding little error. Only that Hermione had almost eight drops of hellebore instead of seven, and Draco had stirred a little bit too long.

Setting aside their Draught of Peace potions, Snape ordered them to start their Pepperup Potions. This time, Draco retrieved the ingredients and Hermione set up their station.

She looked over what he had brought to make sure it was right. _Two pinches of crushed Bicorn Horn_ , _Mandrake Root, three Sprigs of English Thyme, five drops of Salamander Blood, four Fire Seeds._ It seemed he had gotten all of the ingredients, so she hoped it would be an easy potion.

Carefully, Hermione watched Draco crush his Bicorn Horn. She scoffed. He wasn’t crushing it into enough tiny pieces.

“Give me this.” She ordered, crushing the Bicorn Horn into tinier pieces. Draco huffed, and grabbed it back as soon as he could.

After the second part was almost completed, Draco watched Hermione put in the Fire Seeds a little too fast. The cauldrons concoction turned scorched. Immediately, Draco found himself laughing a little too hard at Hermione’s failure. Before going to create another concoction, she kicked him in the shin with a great force.

“What was that for, Granger?!” He asked, a foul frown on his face.

“Stop being a git for once, Malfoy! I’m already mad, and you’re doing a great job at adding to it.” Hermione growled, creating the potion again but from memory.

 “I can’t help that you are bad at potions, you Mudblood!” Malfoy bellowed. Hermione frowned at his response. It was as if he was calling her dumb. It hurt even worse when he called her _Mudblood_. She would never forget that word. She would never forget how foul he meant it to be.

 Professor Snape flicked Malfoy on the head moments after the ordeal. Hermione grinned, stirring her potion. It was always so entertaining watching Malfoy get what he deserved.

 Once Hermione was finished, Snape looked over the potions, analyzing every little detail. Snape was a very particular man, and every little error he analyzed and criticized. Surprisingly, he found Harry and Cho’s potions to be the best, nearly perfect. It was most likely because Hermione and Draco bickered every moment they spoke to each other, which dissolved their ability for success great

 

 

 After practice, Hermione found herself at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, talking to Ginny. She had formed a great friendship with her, talking about Harry and Ron. But this conversation wouldn’t be a good one.

“So, you’re saying he doesn’t like you talking to Draco.. but you’re not getting mad that he’s talking to Lavender? I should tell Mum to knock him in the head! He hasn’t been the same ever since fifth year when he got on the Quidditch team, you know?” Ginny found herself shaking her head in disapproval.

“I’m afraid so. But… he’s just became so jealous and moody over things he can’t control. I love him, Gin, but I don’t think this can go on for any longer. Either he needs to stop being this jealous coward or I will do something about this. He’s being a complete child.” Hermione frowned, looking over her shoulder to make sure Ron wasn’t behind her.

She had to admit, he was acting strange. And even more so because Lavender was his partner.

“I think he deserves a hard punch on the shoulder or a jinx. Mum would kill me for saying that, but it’s what he deserves.” Ginny complained, taking a bite of her potato.

 Hermione groaned. There was no way out of Ron being Ron. But, she had to admit, it was equally her fault. She wanted to make the relationship last, but Ron was making it so hard.

Tomorrow, she knew she had to confront him after training. Whether he liked it or not, the truth had to come out. He was jealous of Malfoy and she knew it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! So this story will be under-going some editing in the next few days. There was also some minor edits to the summary, but there will be nothing major to edit plot-wise.


	5. Aspectu Amori

Quidditch. The sport of witches and wizards all over the world. The sport involved flying on a broomstick and catching the Golden Snitch. For Hermione, it was nothing but a sentence of anxiety. Even though she enjoyed watching her friends play the sport, she herself never fancied it.

The brightest witch of her age was scared to death of heights. She couldn’t stand Quidditch because of it, the game greatly intimidated her. Harry once fell off of his broom, and it scared the soul straight out of her to the point where Nearly Headless Nick could almost see her soul.

 But Hermione faced a greater challenge, as everyone but her was on the varsity Quidditch team. It would be even worse with Draco Malfoy, her childhood bully. She knew how he would react, he would have a sneer on his face and spit some foul words out of his mouth when he found out the ‘brightest witch of their age’ couldn’t play Quidditch for a squat.

 After the group was called to the playing grounds, it was instantly clear that everyone but Hermione wanted to get on their brooms as soon as possible. She liked learning about the history of the sport, but she didn’t like doing it.

 It was clear that the Nimbus 2000 Hermione held in her hands had been used before. The wood had been eroded away from the harsh conditions of flying. It could’ve also been because of tender love and care, but it looked more like someone who was playing Quidditch as a competitive sport and not a fun game had used this broom. The straw looked as if it had been falling out rapidly because of the wind. The broom reminded her somewhat of Harry’s broom, she could see the love he put into that broom but how he also won almost every game on his Nimbus 2000.

After she had time to get adjusted to the broom, reviewing all of the positions and commands, Madam Hooch appeared. Her yellow eyes darted every direction. They all scattered into a straight line, waiting for further instructions.

“Good morning, students. Today we will review and learn advanced Quidditch techniques for your experiment with the Ministry. Please learn these techniques because it’s for survival. You’ll need them when you’re fighting monsters, juggling potions and taking care of magical creatures.” Madam Hooch explained.

For the next two hours they’d be feeling the wind gush through their hair as they rode upon their brooms. Hermione found herself getting frustrated with the whole subject, and found Draco making fun of her while trying to help her.

 “Granger, you don’t put your hand there – put it right there! No, no. _Right here_ , listen to me, _Granger_!” He barked, grabbing her hand and placing it on the correct place you were suppose to grab it on the handle. She was a little rusty Quidditch wise.

 “I’m listening, Malfoy! Stop yelling at me like I’m an idiot, will you?” Jerking her hand away from the Slytherin, Hermione gave him a death glare.

“Fine, whatever. I was just trying to help you. You Gryffindors are damn ungrateful gits, you hear?” Malfoy mumbled, flying away. Hermione shook her head. At least he was trying to be nicer since they were partners, but he was still a pain in the arse.

After practice, they were all given an anxiety potion to ease their senses. And for some reason, Hermione’s potion worked like a charm. She felt calm, and everything was alright. She had no fears of Quidditch – at the moment, anymore. But she was determined to get better at Quidditch, and would review it tonight after dinner.

                                                                     

 

Unfortunately, Draco found himself wandering around Hogwarts, waiting for the anxiety potion to kick in. He had been too worried about this experiment to remember how appealing that the castle looked during winter. Stumbling into an unknown classroom, he looked around. It was empty, but only a mirror occupied the inside of it.

The mirror read: _Erised stra ehru ube catru on woshi_. A strange message, indeed. Examining the mirror, it was aged gold with elegant pillars on the top. It looked quite foggy once he focused into the mirror; figures started appearing in the mirror. He saw himself, successful, with his parents proudly by his side. And a familiar face in his arms. It was Granger. He didn’t know why he was hooked to her, he never knew he had feelings for her at all. All he knew was that he hated her. He hated her ever since he met her. She was the exact opposite of what he had wanted in a woman. No elegenance, no grace, no seduction. Just a hardworking, smart, intelligent, Gryffindor.

Something else shocked him. His father, Lucius, was proud of him. His mother was proud of him, and that’s because she always was. He loved his mother with all of his heart. But his father wasn’t the best either. And maybe he wanted to be better. But he wouldn’t admit that. Admitting weakness was a sin. He couldn’t show any sign of it, or else he would’ve been frowned upon in the name of the Malfoys.

A sudden wave of emotion rushed over him. He was completely shocked, finding himself running to the Neophyte common room. Rummaging in the potion cabinet, he found what appeared to be the Calming Draught. He drank it as soon as possible and returned to lunch with everyone else.

Draco was more emotional than usual after taking the Calming Draught; but when he came into the Great Hall, he glanced to Hermione. A great wave of emotion rushed over him once again, his whole body flushed a great pink, and his heart beated at such a faster rate that he thought it was being sucked out by a magnet. It was like he was a totally different person. He found himself sitting next to Ron Weasley, just to be across from Hermione. Ron gave him an unusual frown. Cho lifted a brow, and Harry looked around. Everyone was quiet. But he had his eyes on Hermione for some strange reason.

“What the bloody hell, Malfoy?” Ron spoke cowardly. Draco shook his head, looking from Ron to Hermione. He had never had a Calming Draught, but is appeared that it didn’t calm him. It made his heart beat quicker at a wicked pace, and he had more of an attraction to females. He grabbed his plate and started filling it while silence, glancing at Hermione every once in awhile. Once he sat back down, Lavender smiled at him.

“So, Draco, how do you think practice went? Did you see me catch that snitch? I caught it faster than Ron!” She giggled, her cheeks a pink tint and a wicked grin placed on her pale exterior. Draco looked up and shook his head, confused. He didn’t speak but just kept eating. Lavender grunted.

“Hermione was quite good on a broom, even though I had to help her a bit.” Draco found himself spitting out. He didn’t intend to say that. He intended to say something about Hermione, but not a compliment – it was like this potion made him kinder. Made him show weakness.

The conversation didn’t last long. It was much like every other dinner that they had, maybe five hundred words spoken every meal. But that seemed to be it. He did notice that Hermione looked a lot more beautiful than at Quidditch practice; her face glowing, her brown eyes turned golden, her hair was smooth, and her figure was more feminine. But maybe that was just him.

Before leaving the Great Hall to his dorm, he looked at Hermione one last time. Her smile made him grin and have giddy feelings – feelings he didn’t like. Feelings he loathed, but they felt good.

Once back at his dorm, he took a shower and read a book before drifting off to sleep. Once in his REM stage, the potion seemed to make him dream. He saw Hermione in all of her glory, and it seemed that she was pleading to him.

_“Run away with me, Draco – this bloody experiment is pulling us apart. Lavender is pulling us apart, let’s abandon this school and live a life at the Malfoy Manor together, let’s build a family! Please, listen to me, Draco!” She pleaded. It wasn’t like her. This wasn’t the Hermione Granger he knew. If anything, she would want to run away with her best friends, and do magic and continue her studies._

_“Of course I will, ‘Mione, I love you.” Draco stated, planting a deep kiss of affection into her cheek. They held each other for a few minutes, before running away off into the sunset._

_His second dream was a nightmare. Voldemort held his arm, creating his dark mark, which sank into his skin with a burning sensation. It was so vivid, looking exactly like his father’s. Hermione’s scream was apparent. He looked over his shoulder to find Voldemort stroking her face, tracing out her features and speaking to her in a soft voice._

_“Oh, Hermione Granger, it’s only the end for you. Your lover has submitted to me to save you – and that was only his downfall. You poor, innocent, corrupted child. If only Dumbledore could save you know.” The noseless man spoke as if he was speaking to a child. Draco was dragged over to Hermione – he instantly hugged her and kissed her for what felt like the last time._

_"I’m sorry, love. Hermione Jean Granger, you’re a gift to this world. You’ll always be in my heart. I thought I’d be protecting you but I only made it worse. I’m so sorry. I’m so, so so… sorry.” Draco cried, cradling her._

_“Draco, I’ll be fine. I love you. I know you did this for me. Thank you. I love you to Merlin’s end. Keep my books warm for me. I love you.” Hermione said, her voice hoarse from screaming, a tear rolling down her pale cheek._

_He kissed her one last time before being dragged away to a corner. Umbridge casted the Imperius spell, making him watch what was about to happen._

_"Crucio!” Voldemort yelled with a smile. This was like a game to him. Hermione’s screams the whole world shake. His heart dropped to his stomach, and he felt a pain in his throat. He had loved her unconditionally, and Voldemort was right, it was his downfall. All light was suddenly sucked out of the room. Or at least it looked like it. It lasted for an hour before he casted another curse – another even worse charm._

_“Avada Kedavra!” Voldemort smirked, and everything suddenly went dark._

He bolted out of bed, his whole body soaked in sweat. A nightmare. That dafty potion kept giving him thoughts of Hermione. He couldn’t handle it. After he splashed some water on his face, which calmed him down somewhat, he went back into the common room to read the label of the potion. It couldn’t be Calming Draught.

Walking back to the potion cabinet, he opened it to find the emptied potion bottle sitting where he last put it. The label was mostly scribbles, but he was beginning to make it out. _Aspectu Amori._ From what he had read, the potion was somewhat like the love potion. But he was forgetting what it caused. The classic love potion caused the drinker to fall in love with the person who created it.

But it only had the side effects of lust, seduction, falling and romance. This potion had to be made by someone who knew what they were doing, or maybe someone who didn’t know what they were doing at all. From what he knew, the side effects were nightmares, dreams, lust and romance, but Hermione couldn’t have made it.

Hermione hated him. He had no idea what this potion was. Draco crafted a love potion antidote and placed it beside his bed before drifting to sleep and having more dreams of him and Hermione, which would annoy him to days on end.


	6. Pop Goes The Malfoy

 

The sun’s magnificent rays glimmered out of the dressed window, dust particles swimming in the spotlight that the sun made for them. It was as if the big bright star was a natural alarm clock. The young brunette witch stirred, trying to cover her eyes from the suns gleaming light. Hermione tried protecting her eyes with her blanket, but the sun was still stubbornly visible. She groaned, leaning up and rubbing her eyes. The grandfather clock read the hour nine and minute of fourteen.

She starting her daily routine as the clock turned to fifteen. Her routine was more of a Muggle routine, no Magic was used at all. She brushed her hair, took a shower, washed her face, brushed her teeth, and then put on her Neophyte cloak before grabbing a book and heading down to breakfast in the Great Hall to meet her fellow Neophytes.

They were all joined at one table. The boys on one side and the girls on another. Plates filled with food occupied the center of the table, the mix being colorful. It housed some bacon, eggs, tomatoes, biscuits, various fruits, pancakes, and some vegetables. Hermione sat by Cho across from Harry. She grabbed a plate and gathered her food before she started talking to Harry.

“Good morning, Harry.” The witch sighed. She was glad her friends were in this experiment.

“Morning, Hermione.” Harry responded, stuffing his face with food. It reminded her of the first time she met him. He was astonished by all of the food.

No one talked much, even though small talk was made every once in awhile. Hermione requested to talk to Ron after breakfast, but Dumbledore beat her to it. He called all of them into his office after breakfast. The bearded wizard seemed to be in a good mood.

“Good morning, students. I have called you here because I would like to know how your training is going. I would also like to know how work with your partners is going.” He nodded, waiting for a response. Everyone was silent. No wonder no one wanted to answer, the day before was pretty rough.

“I thought making potions with Lavender was pretty hard, Professor Dumbledore….” The redhead mumbled, flaring his nostrils. Lavender bolted a foul look to Ron.

“Well, Professor Dumbledore, the only reason it was hard was because Ron wouldn’t stop messing around! I wish I was partners with Draco.” Lavender whined. Hermione looked to Draco. He seemed to have a terrified expression on his face. She would too if Ron said such a thing.

“Now, Miss Brown, please calm down. I understand you do not like your partner. It’s impossible to like everyone.” The bearded wizard addressed. Hermione looked to Lavender, raising a brow. Everyone had a negative reaction, it seemed. Even Dumbledore was surprised.

“Well, Professor, I wish I was working on school work right now instead of this experiment. It seems all I can focus on is this study… or experiment… whatever it is.” Hermione nods, playing with her fingers.

“I’m just hungry… can we get more time to eat, Professor, please?” Ron whined, frowning. He could never stop eating, and it was like he had an infinite stomach.

“Well… how have you all been with working with your partners? You were all placed with each other for a reason, I hope you know that.” Dumbledore explained.

 “Professor, I don’t know about the others, but Cho and I are working together quite well… I mean, a lot better than I expected.” Harry’s tone seemed to be shaky, as if he was scared or something. Cho looked to him, hesitantly putting her hand on his. He looked at her, but she quickly pulled her hand away.

 “You all have been doing strangely well in this experiment, as Minister Shacklebolt has told me – almost too well. We have decided to reward you all to a trip to Diagon Alley. I hope you see some things there that will elevate your spirits so you will be successful. You will be given a limited amount of money to spend. Spend it wisely.” Dumbledore reassuringly smiled.

Everyone became silent. Alone with Draco in a public place with money? She didn’t trust him. Not one bit. Hermione would rather be snogged by Ron than be alone with Draco Malfoy. It was just so unrealistic. A Slytherin and a Gryffindor, two rival houses, alone together.

 After some time, Professor McGonagall guided them to Diagon Alley. She had given them each a limited amount of money to spend and that they should be careful with it; spend it wisely, as Dumbledore said.

 Hermione found Draco dragging her through Diagon Alley. Trying to distract herself, she watched the snowflakes fall onto her robes, analyzing the shapes and structures it made. She remembered making snowmen during her childhood days. Rolling up the snow into almost large cotton balls, sticking sticks into the sides of the second snowball, and sticking coal as the smile, eyes and buttons of the snowman. She would occasionally place a scarf along the second snowball.

“Granger. Granger… Granger! Dammit, are you listening to me? God, am I just talking for nothing?” Malfoy bellowed harshly. Hermione found herself lost in her own thought.

“What?!” She asked, a bite to her words. Malfoy looked at her with a scowl, dragging her along Diagon Alley’s slippery cobblestoned streets. Hermione looked up at him.

“Seems like I was just talking for nothing. I was asking you which store you wanted to go to first, you git. You have ears, don’t you?” Draco stopped them, dragging her to a nearby corner to scold her about not listening.

 “I’d rather recite how to make snowman than listen to you, Malfoy!” Hermione whispered. Her words were sincere. She would rather listen to a ghoul talk about how their best friend died faking their death then talk to Malfoy. The boy was spoiled and thought he had rights to every crumb in Hogwarts.

 “Fine, we will go to Honeydukes and spend all of our money on candy and I’ll donate it to the poor. Oh, wait, I’ll donate it to you!” Draco responded. Hermione was tempted to hurt him somehow to shut him up. Moments later, she found herself pulling out her hand and slapping Malfoy right on his porcelain rich boy one thousand dollar cheek. He deserved it.

“Stop being such a git, Malfoy! Let’s just go into a random shop and see what they have… oh, you see that one?” Hermione pointed to a familiar bookshop, Flourish and Blotts.

 “Whatever. Just go. I’ll be right behind you…” Draco rubbed his cheek, following behind Hermione. She was outraged. How could someone let their child act like they’re better than someone because they’re rich and their family is pureblooded? It disgusted her. Made her quiver.

Stumbling in the bookshop, Hermione was determined to get away from Draco as soon as possible. She found herself in the _Magical Creatures_ section. Anything from sirens to manticore. Hermione picked up a book about Griffins, flipping open the book to find a section on befriending them. She read every word of the page almost five times. She feared Draco would be stalking about trying to find her, so she put down the book where it once was.

Hermione looked up at a sign, and it read: “Spells, Non-Fiction, Ministry of Magic, Creature Studies.” She decided to go the Ministry if Magic section. Hogwarts didn’t have much, regarding the Ministry’s dirty past. Some of the titles were very interesting. Hermione couldn’t tell if this was fiction or political propaganda about the Ministry. _“The Minister Took My Half-Blood Baby”_ , _“The Ministry of Magic: A History of Psychopaths”_ and finally, _“Watching The Minister of Magic Hypnotize My Child”_

The selection was absolutely rubbish. She went down a few titles and found another eye-catching title. _“The Ministry of Magic: Hogwarts Experiments, Volume I.”_ There were almost twenty books about the Ministry’s Hogwarts experiments. It seemed they were hidden on the bottom shelf so no one would buy them, like the Ministry demanded they be hard to find. She grabbed the most interesting books about the experiments, hoping there was a way out of this. While gazing through the summaries of the books, one of the experiments were how students were almost tortured, the Minister putting dark thoughts in their heads. It went on for almost five-hundred pages.

Loading up her books, she felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped. It was Draco, holding three books in his arms. Hermione rolled her eyes.

“Ah, see you have some dirt on the Ministry, Granger?” Draco wiggled his eyebrows. The hand mark on his face was more apparent, which made her grin like a child.

“Shush, will you?! I’m going to buy these and read them to try to find some loopholes. The Ministry repeats itself, if you haven’t noticed.” She responded sternly. His enthusiasm had faded away as a result. Hermione grabbed his arm and dragged him to the check out. After they both checked out their books, they had a lot of money remaining.

Both Hermione and Draco decided to go to get something to drink from The Leaky Cauldron. Hermione found herself buying a butterbeer and sitting with Ron and Harry, and Draco found himself sipping some pumpkin juice in the corner by himself.

“How’s Malfoy? I see you’ve given him a mark.” Harry chuckled, a smile on his face. He wasn’t the only one who liked to see Malfoy in pain.

Hermione scoffed. “He was being a git and I didn’t wanna deal with him so I slapped him… god, how can someone be so arrogant? How can you raise a child to hate someone because of their heritage?”

“Dunno. I do know that the Malfoys are pretty hard-headed and stubborn when it comes to blood status… they refuse to let their pure-blooded bloodline to turn into a half-blood bloodline. I mean, they’ve been like that for centuries but there must be some half-blood in there somewhere.” Ron shrugged and took a drink of his butterbeer.

“Since when did you read, Ronald?”

 

 

  Dumbledore pinched the bridge of his nose. He had been talking to Kingsley for more than an hour now about this experiment, watching the vials of liquid change color. He pitied the students who had been chosen, but he would help them in every way he could even if it resulted in him being fired from his position as headmaster.

"You can't let them do this."

"Yes I can. I'm the Minister."

"Kingsley, don't abuse this power you've been gifted."

"It's better to keep them safe."

"Safe? Do you truly know what you're doing?"

"Of course I do. I'm C-Kingsley Shacklebolt."

"Their parent's won't stand for this. Especially Lucius."

"I have him taken care of."

"You are not the man I used to know, Kingsley. When you were in the Order, you wouldn't stand for this treatment," Dumbledore sighed, "Mrs and Mr Weasley wouldn't stand for this either. And you put their son in this dangerous game."

Kingsley nodded, taking another drink of the strange fluorescent drink in his hand. "Good night, Albus." He then left the room. Dumbledore took out his wand and looked into the pensieve. A sigh escaped him. He put his wand to his head, and took out a memory before dropping it into the pensieve.

 


	7. The Necklace

 

Ever since taking the love potion by accident, Draco felt something driving him, regardless of the potion was still doing its magic. Though the potion had worn off, some of it was still attached to his emotions. He remembered every conversation he had with Hermione, every breath she took, the way her eyes did that thing when she was angry. But he kept telling himself that this was all artificially introduced to him, all the emotions he was feeling were absolutely fake. But he couldn’t stand it.

Something that he couldn’t handle was that the potion had lasted for days. This had to be dangerous, it was like it was feeding your brain an addiction. He had researched the potion the day after he found himself enticed because of Granger. It said that the potion would last for weeks, and the love potion antidote wouldn’t work. It took a specific type of love potion antidote to cure whatever that potion was.

As the potion had worn off, he found he had these new feelings for Hermione. He had always felt something for her ever since the sorting ceremony, but he couldn’t imagine he was in love with her. It was unrealistic.

Another day of training uncovered itself. Training was beginning to become repetitive. It was the same every time. Potions, Quidditch, Defense Against the Dark Arts, it was everything he had learned prior to this experience. Or so he thought. He wanted nothing more than to slay some sort of dragon with his almighty Malfoy charm; but it looked like the only thing he could slay at this point with his Malfoy charm seemed to be Lavender Brown, someone he never wanted to see ever again.

The Room of Requirement was reserved for the day for the Neophytes. When he stepped into the room, it turned into a marvelous arena. Silver coated the walls, dragon horns laced with some sort of charm to make it gleam decorated a small portion of the wall above the door frame. It appeared to look like a medieval arena, the architecture similar to the Coliseum in Rome.

The Golden Trio waited patiently in a corner, while Lavender and Cho were seated above them, gossiping their pleasures away, sitting back like queens. All heads turned to Malfoy when he arrived.

Draco noticed the way Hermione’s eyes gleamed when she looked at him. Today her porcelain cheeks seemed flushed, her hair curlier than usual. But maybe it was the potion telling him all of these things, he couldn’t tell. She was still an unbelievably beautiful specimen. She looked so snoggable today, he almost had to take a double take to see if it was Hermione or a Greek goddess.

But he wouldn’t reveal these artificial feelings. No. He couldn’t. It would just cause an uproar with everyone in the experiment, and it would gladly ruin it all.

His eyes shot to a corner, which withheld vials with strangely colored liquids. The vials were labeled “HP”, “HG”, “DM”, “RW”, “CC”, and “LB”. The vial labeled “HP” housed baby blue bubbling liquid, while the vial next to it, “HG”, was a nice forest green which bubbled every so often. The vial “DM” was a very very deep, almost maroon, red, and it appeared almost to be boiling. “RW” was a bright red, which had steam coming off of it. “CC” was a very nice shade of bright blue, a silver film on the top of it. And the last vial, “LB”, was a swirling mix between a bright red and a baby pink. He would have to ask Kingsley what these vials were for.

Training began shortly. Professor Snape hosted this lesson, just like he hosted the Potion lesson.  Draco found Snape to be his favorite Professor out of all of the insufferable teachers in the damned school.

“Good evening. Today we will be learning about Defensive spells to know when you must protect yourself from rivals.. or dragons… or friends… all of those excellent things. You will be dueling against people I have chosen for you, while everyone sits and watches. Draco… mhm.. you have the Weasley. Potter… you have Hermione.. Cho, you have Lavender. We will begin with Draco and Weasley. Please step up to the plate.” Snape motioned to where they both would stand. Ron had a terrified expression on his face, while Draco seemed sly about the whole situation.

“Wands up… Weasley, posture. Draco, remember the position of your feet. Have your whole body facing toward the opponent… you may begin.” Snape barked after critiquing every small movement that the boys made.

Draco knew he had to impress Hermione, whether it meant defeating the dafty Weaselbee or not. He aimed his wand right at Weasleys head, and fired.

“ _Flipendo_!” Draco stated ever-so-clearly, his voice was almost mechanical. He could feel the potion in his veins. He was being controlled somehow.

Before Ron could even shout another spell, Draco found himself shouting a spell. “ _Cantis_!”

Ron started belting out German Opera before he knew it. His screeching was almost similar to a mandrakes, and it started to crack the “RW” vial. Draco couldn’t stop laughing, and Harry giggled a bit. Lavender and Hermione were clearly in shock because of this, but Snape just sat back and watched. Everyone was clearly having a good time except Ron.

“ _Reducio_!” Ron yelled while still singing German Opera. Malfoy shrunk into almost a doll-sized state. The “DM” vial shrunk with him. The girls giggled in the corner, while Harry tried holding in a laugh.

“ _Impedimenta_!” Doll-sized Malfoy bellowed, making Ron slow down his German Opera and his movements. After whispering an incantation, Malfoy was back on his feet as his original size.

“ _Incendio_!”

“ _Aguamenti_!” Draco yelled, soaking the fire out from Ron’s wand, which in return soaked the Weasel. Snape immediately stopped the two of them, turning them back to normal.

“Now… that is not how a duel is done... I guess we are finished for today,” Snape glanced at the vials before turning back to them. “I’ll be expecting you for training on Monday.” Snape responded before walking away to the nearby bookshelf.

                                                                                                  

 

An hour after training, Draco was once again looking at the necklace he had encountered. It was Opal and Onyx with a silver chain. When he first touched the opal core, it threw him across the room. He casted some jinxes to keep it stable while he was looking over it. But, it was a beautiful and what seemed old piece of jewelry.

The spells he began to cast made him realize it would only let the person wear it if their heart was pure. His mind then drifted to Hermione. She was… beautiful. Her heart was pure, and she wouldn’t hurt a fly.

The necklaces aura was a very light blue, which signified purity. Draco, of course, couldn’t wear it because of his heart… he supposed it wasn’t pure.

“Oh, hey, what are you doing, Malfoy?” Ron asked, sitting next to him. Draco’s eyes fell to the back of his head.

“Investigating.. and what do you think you’re doing?” Draco scoffed, his brows furrowing as he said another charm. And Ron watched him, for what felt like the rest of the time.

“You know, you should be tending to your girlfriend or Sir Potty.” Draco remarked, his eyes still on the necklace.

“Ah.. whatever.” Ron said before walking away. A moment later, Ron came back.

“Hey, Malfoy, Dumbledore wants all of us in his office.”

Draco scoffed before putting his wand back in his pocket and standing up. As soon as he came to Dumbledore’s office, everyone seemed to be there before him.

“Draco.. please, sit down.” Dumbledore motioned to Draco. Draco furrowed his brows before sitting in a chair next to Cho.

“I’m calling you all here because I need to tell you something urgent.” Dumbledore stood, “I am not trying to scare any of you… but I am afraid to tell you all.. the Dark Lord, Voldemort, is back.” The room was silent for a moment. Ron tried catching his breath, while Harry cleared his throat. Hermione looked at Dumbledore with her eyebrows raised, Cho teared up, and Lavender’s face went white.

“I urge you. Pay attention to what you’re learning. Listen. Because I do not want this to end and one of you are gone.” Dumbledore took a deep breath before looking to Hermione, whom had her hand raised.

“Yes, Miss Granger?”

“So.. now that Voldemort is back, do you think you’ll be able to cancel this whole Ministry experiment?” Hermione asked, a frown expanding on her face. Before Dumbledore could say anything, Cho ran out of his office. Maybe she thought of Cedric.

“Hermione… I’m afraid I cannot.” Dumbledore responded. Draco shook his head.

“So are you gonna tell us next that we have to defeat him or something? Is that why you’re training us to be your little army?” Draco said harshly. At this point, there was nothing his father could do.

“I...I unfortunately cannot answer that, Mr Malfoy.” Dumbledore responded.

“Well… I’ve already duelled him once, guess I can do it again.” Harry stood. Hermione, Ron, and Lavender did so with him. Seconds later, Draco did too.

“I’ll tell you this. Kingsley wants to do so… “ Dumbledore said.

“This is rubbish. I’m out.” Draco said, trying to leave.

“Mr Malfoy, please stay for a moment. I will update you all with owls if anything changes. But be wary, as I fear Kingsley is not alright.” Dumbledore said.

Everyone then left his office to lunch. Draco found himself watching Hermione every once in awhile, but he got especially worried once he watched Ron sit next to her. He watched her demeanor tense up, but then Weasel took something out of his pocket. _The necklace_. He had given her the necklace. And when she took it and put it on, she glowed.


	8. The Antidote

__Hogwarts was decorated all around for Christmas. Snow painted the grounds and the tops of the castle, while lights illuminated the walls inside. Wreaths adorned every door, and students helped to dress the Christmas trees around every corner. Everyone was finally peaceful. Or so it seemed.

Hermione was worrying about this experiment. She was also very worried about explaining to the Weasleys, or her parents, that she couldn’t attend Christmas at home with them this year. It wasn’t fair.

At the very least, Dumbledore promised at the beginning of the year that they would get Christmas off. And while they would, they would be stuck at Hogwarts for Christmas.

The Christmas celebration at Hogwarts this year was a lot more cheerful than the last. Dobby and the house-elves went all out this year, most likely to make up for the celebration last year with Umbridge present. They created heavenly cookies decorated with the colors of each Hogwarts house, and even gifted a cake to each prefect. But most of all, the house elves had given their gratitude to Hermione for creating S.P.E.W with a lemon cake. In the midst of it all, she totally forgot about S.P.E.W in the middle of the experiment and felt guilty she wasn’t doing anything for the house elves.

But one of the most gracious gifts she got was a gift from Ron. It was a beautiful onyx and opal necklace. It must’ve had some magical properties to it, because ever since she put it on, it made her feel exuberant. She felt like she could be on top of the world, which was usually her assignments, but as of now, a very strange Ministry experiment. Ginny had especially paid attention to it, since Hermione could feel her eyes heavy on her necklace the whole celebration.

“Where – where did you get that necklace, Hermione? It’s beautiful, I’ve been meaning to ask.” Ginny asked while taking a bite of her mashed potatoes. Hermione grinned, taking a look at the necklace once again.

“Just a little gift from Ron. I suppose it is to make up from all of the fights we’ve been having.” Hermione responded, looking back up to the redhead before her. Ginny’s brow quirked up.

“Ron could never buy a necklace like… _that_ …. I mean look at it, it has some precious jewels in it. Either it’s a fake, or he stole it.” Ginny’s face scrunched up.

“I… I never thought of that possibility. But Ron would never steal… would he?” Hermione wondered, pondering the idea.

“He… he would never,” Hermione shook her head. She didn’t like the idea. “Especially to make up with me for all those times he’s insulted me… that git!”

“I agree,” Ginny nodded, “He can be a git. Especially now-a-days.” Hermione looked over to look for Ron, when she suddenly locked eyes with Malfoy. His gray eyes squinted, looking to her chest. She watched him stand, and suddenly he was coming her way. Malfoy had been acting strange the last few days. So strange in a way she couldn’t explain.

“Granger,” Malfoy spoke as he came up to her. She watched his eyes shoot to her necklace once again. His expression changed greatly. “Your… your necklace. Where did you get that?” He asked, his expression now in a state of panic. Hermione frowned.

“I got this from _Ron_ , but now I’m debating on giving it back.” Hermione stood, shaking her head in disgust.

“Could I - could I take it off your hands for you?” Draco requested, twiddling with his fingers. Hermione squinted.

“And why would you want it?”

“Just give me the necklace, Granger, it’s all I ask.”

“But tell me why you want it.”

“Just give me the damn necklace!” Draco spat. Hermione shook her head, which resulted in Draco grabbing for it. As soon as he got a grip on the necklace, he was thrown across the Great Hall with such force, it looked as if someone had used the _stupefy maxima_ spell on him. Everyone looked up to Hermione, and then back to Draco. Great chatter erupted from the whole ordeal. She watched as Draco stood up, his demeanor threatening. It reminded her of how threatening Remus Lupin looked on that one night when he turned into a werewolf.

Immediately, Dumbledore sat up and escorted the two to the two to his office. The walk was long and silent.

“Hermione, Draco, please care to tell me what this was about.” Dumbledore asked, his voice calm. It didn’t match the expression on his face.

“Professor, I - I.. I don’t know, Draco just grabbed my necklace and somehow… it stunned him. I felt magic on this necklace when I put it on, and it never stunned me.” Hermione explained. Draco huffed, fixing his hair.

“Ah… Hermione, may I see that?” He asked, holding out his hand. Hermione nodded, taking off the necklace. Once she handed it to him, he started to study it. Professor Dumbledore took out his wand and started casting nonverbal spells on the necklace.

“It appears to me that this pendant is a very old piece of jewelry. Possibly crafted in the late 1800’s… and also appears to be a shield against dark forces and broken souls.

“Oh, yes. Black Onyx and Opal. Both protects you from dark forces… it might’ve belonged to a Hogwarts student.” Dumbledore continued. He looked up to a portrait.

“Phineas, does this necklace look familiar to you?” The headmaster asked, holding up the necklace so that the portrait could identify it. Phineas looked at it with admiration.

“Yes, Albus… that was my daughters necklace. Belvina Black.” Phineas responded.

“Thank you, Phineas…” Dumbledore looked at the necklace once again.

“So… how did the necklace end up in the boys dormitories?” Draco asked, his brows flying up. The headmaster let out a great sigh.

“I will investigate more in the upcoming days. But please, remember to stay safe. I will update the both of you if I find anything out. You are dismissed.”

 

Hours later, the sun started to set, and everyone seemed to be inside. Hermione found herself under a tree in the courtyard. She was physically and mentally exhausted. Thankfully, she found some time to bundle up and stick her nose in a book she had yet to read.

It greatly troubled her to not be able to learn like everyone else. The Ministry had some nerve to butt into Hogwarts business once again. But this time, it was quite unexpected – Kingsley Shacklebolt, a member of the Order, was forcing three students from the Order in some experiment? It was strange to her. His aura was strange, it just wasn’t him.

In the middle of her thoughts, she watched Lavender walk up to her, tears streaming down her face.

“Lavender – what’s wrong?” Hermione asked, her brows furrowing. Lavender sat down in front of her before choking up her sobs.

“I… I made this potion… it didn’t work! It’s something like Aspectu Amori,” Lavender whined in the middle of her sobs, her face becoming more red and her tears starting to fall more frequently. “I watched him come back freaked out and everything, so I decided that I should label the potion and disguise it as a Calming Draught and put it right in the front so he could get it… and it didn’t work!” Lavender cried, choking on her sob. Hermione took a deep breath.

“You know… Aspectu Amori has extremely rare ingredients and takes incredible skill to brew. If you were going to use a potion of any sort, you should’ve just given that boy the love potion! Aspectu Amori lasts longer than almost any potion and only works fifty percent of the time.” Hermione huffed once she was finished with her rant. Once she realized Lavender was still crying, she bit her lip.

“Maybe.. maybe I can help you make the antidote. BUT, with the exception that you tell me who this boy is and you never do this again.” Hermione responded sternly. Lavender looked up to her with tear-soaked cheeks and nodded.

“Let’s just go and get this over with…” Hermione proceeded to shut her book and huff. Lavender led her to the common room, where they made sure no one was there to watch them make the potion and got to work. Hermione practically destroyed the ingredients cabinet trying to find all of the correct things to put into the potion. She grabbed a potion antidote book and started to search for the _Amore Perit_ Antidote page. She looked over all of the ingredients to verify they were correct.

 _Rose Petals, Castor oil, Armadillo Bile, Bezoar and Honeywater_.

She crushed the Rose Petals and threw it into the cauldron, waited until they were burnt, and then poured in the Castor Oil slowly until the concoction was a deep red. She mixed in the Honeywater until it simmered, and then put the Armadillo Bile and Bezoar together before throwing it into the potion and let it simmer for five minutes. Hermione then scooped it all up and poured it into various vials until there was nothing left.

“Here,” Hermione said as she handed it to Lavender. “Hopefully, we can pour it into his drink during dinner tonight.” Hermione spoke as she started to put the ingredients back into place. Lavender nodded.

“Hermione… thank you so much. You don’t know how much this means.” Lavender grinned before running off to the girls dorms.

 

It didn’t take long for dinner to arrive, and Hermione watched Lavender anxiously wait. While she was reading a Muggle book, _Pride and Prejudice_ , she looked over her book every once in awhile to look at Lavender. The girl practically had her eyes glued to the clock. Cho suggested they play a card game to pass the time, as she too saw through Lavenders anxiety, while Hermione just kept her nose in her book the whole time. But when dinner time did come, Lavender sat up in a quick motion. She slid the vial into her pocket, and walked quickly to the Great Hall. Hermione wasn’t very far behind her, and both of them got there first.

“So, who’s the guy?” Hermione asked, sitting across from Lavender. Lavender hesitated, playing with her fingers. She didn’t make eye contact with Hermione.

“Malfoy,” she spoke. “Draco Malfoy.”

Hermione’s jaw dropped before she watched Harry scatter in with Ron.

“Hey, where’d your necklace go?” Ron asked curiously. Hermione glared at Ron before his nose scrunched up and his brows flared in confusion.

“Just for your information, _Ron_ , I know you stole it, so I gave it to someone else.” She spoke, before her eyes shot to the boy coming in the door. _Draco_. He sat down across from Hermione and started digging in and grabbing food immediately. About ten minutes later, when his plate was almost finished, he stood up, did that classic swagger walk of his, and then walked out the door, for what she could assume was to go to the toilets.

Hermione motioned Lavender to his cup, and Lavender poured the antidote into his pumpkin juice. Hermione stirred it counterclockwise to insure the potion settled in correctly. The juice turned a bright purple. With that, she looked at the door, then back at the juice before whispering the _colovaria_ charm.

She sat back down just in time for Malfoy to strut back in and sit down and finish his meal. When he took a drink of his juice, he waited a moment before going back in to drink it all. Ron and Harry gave her looks like she snuck a poison into his drink.

Hermione watched him for a moment. He seemed to look around for awhile, sometimes blinking a lot, and rubbing his eyes. The book described the antidote to be working correctly if the drinker looked confused and rubbed their eyes a lot. It seemed to work for the most part, and Malfoy was his normal self now.

“So… what does everything think about how the Montrose Magpies did against Puddlemere United in Britain?” Ron asked meekly. Harry’s face scrunched up.

“The Montrose Magpies didn’t really have their game on. I was rooting for them.” He shrugged. Draco scoffed.

“The Montrose Magpies were absolute puddles against Puddlemere United. I had a good feeling it wouldn’t end well.” Draco smirked, taking an apple and starting to munch on it.

“I actually think that the Magpies actually did quite well, considering that they went against the Chudley Cannons the last time and won.” Cho giggled.

“Hey, they’re a lot better than they used to be!” Ron spoke, shaking his head in disbelief.

Hermione sighed, a heavy weight lifted off of her chest. It seemed Draco was back to normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to Zara, or zselenophile for being a beta for this chapter!! Edit: changed “Amare Mia Matia” potion name. It's now called Aspectu Amori. Thanks to purple-amaranthe on Tumblr for helping me with the translation!


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